Abstract
Black feminist consciousness arises from an understanding of intersecting patterns of discrimination. If race and gender are studied as separate categories, one cannot explain how attitudes might change as a result of cross-pressures to subordinate the interests of black women so as to protect black men. In this essay, I start with a discussion of black feminist consciousness, providing an overview of its origins, offering a definition, and emphasizing themes that delineate its contours. To underscore the importance of studying black feminist voices in politics, I discuss the limitations of available data and quantitative approaches used hitherto by political scientists.